Please visit the California Revealed website to see the most complete and up-to-date version of this object: https://repository.californiarevealed.org/node/393410.

Black and white negative of man sitting at table in a diner. This photograph was taken by Ellis Bayles Myers. Myers was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on December 5th, 1916. Growing up, Myers quit school after the fifth grade to help support his family and in 1943, was drafted into a segregated regiment of the Marine Corps. During his time overseas, Myers met a black photographer who inspired him to pursue photography. In 1946, Myers moved to Richmond, California, which offered more opportunities than the segregated south and allowed Myers to establish his photography business with the motto "In your home, at your convenience". The success of his business allowed Myers to move to Parchester Village, where he created a permanent darkroom in his garage. Although it was financially successful and personally satisfying, Myers ended his photography business around 1960 with the introduction of color photography. Myers documented African Americans enjoying a middle-class lifestyle through images of community social events, nightlife, family events, church events and formal portraits. Although African Americans in the postwar period (1946-1960) faced systemic inequalities and an inequal distribution of resources, the images from the Myers collection show that despite this, the postwar African American community in Richmond fully participated in the local economy, leisure events, social clubs, religious activities and politics.

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